Idea:Mountain Shield
''"A massive shield to guard your Gunners, Protect your injured, and assist the team. While it limits your offensive capabilities to Shield Bashing, guarding your team is more important... unless going for a solo hunt. It comes with a smaller version of the standard light bowgun, ensuring you can still fight even if you drop the shield." ''-The Mountain Shield's Description A tool designed to assist less experienced hunters survive, the Mountain Shield quickly grew favorable for Tanks due to it's steadfast construction and ability to extend itself to protect not only the user, but other hunters. It is one of the few primarily defensive weapons that focus more on supporting the squad, although it is not uncommon to find a Mountain Shield user going solo on a hunt... with mods. All Mountain Shields, no matter the forge or mods attached, are capable of extending in 2 ways: A long barricade to provide protection for gunners, or a high side by side reinforcement that guards from biting and clawing attacks. The Mountain Shield's 2 extensions are called: Barricade and Wall. Barricade was a long reinforcement where the shield is placed on it's side, causing large panels to fold out. These panels will then be extended by the hunter (Via lifting them up) before a pedal is stepped on, locking the shield in place. Wall involves the shield being lifted, a panel dropping and locking into place, before the sides extend. Wall is the only mode that can be carried, Barricade must be dropped. To prevent a Mountain Shield user from being caught with their pants down, the shield comes with a miniature Bowgun. Attacks * '''Bash: '''The hunter lunges forward, hitting the monster. Deals a small stun effect. Triggered by the standard normal attack button * '''Wallop: '''The hunter lifts their shield by the bottom sides, smacking the monster once. Can be done infinitely with other Wallops, but drains stamina. Extra damage with Spike Mod. Strategy Advantages Disadvantages Shield Mods While the Mountain Shield began to grow in popularity, there was a noticeable factor that the Mountain Shield was strictly team-only originally, and that posed a problem. While lances were a good choice they were often slow and clunky, and the charge attacks in the hands of the unskilled did little to improve chances to avoid a cart. Shield Mods acted as the response and as a way to allow the Mountain Shield to be effectively used solo. These have varying extension patterns and effects, as a result. Basic (No Mods) The standard shield, with standard extensions of a low lying barricade and a large profile default extension. Barricade mode has the special effect of being resistant to charge attacks from minions like the Kestodon, causing them to bounce off, while the regular extension grants invincibility frames, blocking attacks. Basic is notably an all-round type, and many Mountain Shield users, whether veteran or noob, like to use this variant. The Basic variant is the third slowest mod-type, outclassed by the Hardscale and Titanium variants, with a movement limitation of 15%. It has a decent Penetration Cooldown Period, if it is breached by the Etimreht, but it's not the best. For the 10 seconds it's been breached, you can't extend it, only hold it. Statistics * Barricade Deployment Time: 5 Seconds * Wall Deployment Time: 3 Seconds * Damage Multiplier: 1 * Damage Type: Blunt * Damage Per Hit: Equal to Standard Gunlance * Can be Penetrated by Etimreht?: Yes. ** Penetration Cooldown Period: 10 Seconds * Speed Penalty: -15% Light Mod A lighter variant of the shield with a focus on quick deployment rather than a steadfast defense, the Light Mod gives the shield a rather thin shell. While it can stand up to less damage before a stagger takes place, it can be dropped much faster, and it also is light enough for the user to slide on top of it, a unique ability that allows it to get it's user into combat. It's more generally suited for suppressive fire rather than aggressively rushing the monster. A fantastic rushing type, the light mod is a good choice for solo hunts, but it's mostly made for minions. Speaking of fire, the Light Mod is vulnerable to fire attacks. Don't use it against an Anjanath if you wish to live. Statistics * Barricade Deployment Time: 3.5 Seconds * Wall Deployment Time: 1.5 Seconds * Damage Multiplier: 1.5 * Damage Type: Blunt * Damage Per Hit: Equal to Standard Lance * Can be Penetrated by Etimreht?: Yes. ** Penetration Cooldown Period: 8 Seconds * Speed Penalty: -10% Spiked Mod Who needs defensive strategies when you can wallop the monster with your shield over, and over, and OVER. The spike mod covers the front of the shield with sharp spikes that deal penetration damage, like a lance, and lightens the shield a bit, allowing for faster attacks in order to damage the monster and potentially stun it. The spikes aren't particularly strong, so some strategy comes to mind (Find soft parts of the monster). It's Shield Slap is great for disrupting a Great Jagras's belly. However, due to the amount of spikes, Barricade Mode cannot be activated. On the other hand, Wall mode gives you more tools of destruction (Spikes on the extensions) that cause damage if a monster charges or makes contact. As it adds spikes, Spike Mod should only be used for garnering attention, and it focusses on passive damage. Statistics * Barricade Deployment Time: N/A * Wall Deployment Time: 3 Seconds * Damage Multiplier: 1.5 * Damage Type: Pierce * Damage Per Hit: Equal to Standard Light Bowgun * Can be Penetrated by Etimreht?: No ** Penetration Cooldown Period: N/A * Speed Penalty: -20% Boomerang Mod Juggernaut Mod Vortex Mod Bind Mod Category:Idea Category:Weapon Creation Category:Subnauticatracer